The forgotten Israeli hostages kept by Hamas in Gaza for years

BBC News:

The anguish over some 200 people kidnapped by Hamas in its brutal attack on Israel is in the spotlight – but Hamas has been holding at least two Israelis for years.

Very little has been heard about Ethiopian-Israeli Avera Mengistu and Bedouin Arab Israeli Hisham al-Sayed, seized in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

The relatives of two dead Israeli soldiers are also tormented by the fact that Hamas has been holding their remains in Gaza since 2014. Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul were killed during a war between Israel and Hamas that year.

Hamas – backed by Iran and regarded by Western nations as a terrorist group – has previously demanded a high price for releasing captive Israelis. They are used as Hamas bargaining chips.

Aviram Shaul, brother of Oron, says that for nearly 10 years his family has had no news from Hamas about where it is keeping Oron’s body, no sign that Oron will be returned.

In 2014 the army found Oron’s helmet and bulletproof vest in a Hamas tunnel in Gaza. But since then, Aviram told the BBC, “I feel Israelis forgot about them [the two dead soldiers]”.

“Now is a good chance to bring my brother back, because we’re talking about 200 families with relatives held hostage in Gaza. The government did not do enough to bring my brother back, but now they have to make a big effort.”

He said now “Israel needs to do a humanitarian deal to get the hostages out”. “If Hamas wants electricity, water, they must give us the hostages and soldiers’ bodies and Israel does nothing if they don’t want to.”